Unbelievably, I have not cracked up yet, but who knows what tomorrow will bring. Golf is easy if you follow three simple rules. Life is easier if you take those rules and apply them to the important things. Most people who have played golf or currently play the game will probably agree that golf isn't hard if you follow the proper strategy, BUT, the really difficult part is actually following what you know is right. So what are these simple rules? The first one is brought to us by the women who play the game and it is simply “swing easy”. Women do not try to over power their swing because it just isn't in their makeup. I also believe they realize that distance is not the goal, accuracy is number one. The second point: course management. Number three is being able to forget the past (your last hole) and concentrate on the present.

That's it! Could a game be any simpler? No, however it isn't that easy to be that disciplined. Did you forget the movie Tin Cup? Kevin Costner was doing just fine, thank you, until he violated all three rules at one time. He felt that swinging hard would let him clear the water, it didn't. He ignored course management, which suggested he could do better by "laying up" and he couldn't get his past out of his mind which led him to his disastrous decision. Has this happened to me? Almost every time I play the ?@#+ game. And also to most of my friends and associates as well.

As many times as I have told myself and had professionals tell me to swing easy somewhere in the deep recesses of what passes as my mind, a little creature assures me that one mighty whiff (ala Casey at the Bat) and the ball will go the distance to the green. It doesn't happen. Then I revert to course management and take a shorter iron which will get me most of the way to the green. I will go the final distance on the next shot. Unfortunately I slice the ball and I regret my decision to revert to the "course management thing". Knowing that I made the same questionable decision on the previous hole I revert to the power again and knock the ball over the green and into the water. The game isn't that easy!

I bring all this up to emphasize a point of view: life and golf are easy if you just do what you know you need to and forget all the other nonsense. In the book "The Millionaire Next Door" the author makes the point that it isn't what you make but what you do with it that makes the individual successful. Why can't we simplify our lives and take the tried and true easy path to financial security. Some times I feel that most people find value in esoteric concoctions just because they are. To me it is just a case of swinging to hard .

Let's take a look at swinging easy, course management and concerning ourselves with the present and future, not the past. Sounds easy but is it really easy? The most I can say is it could be. Some examples from my industry, the mortgage market, should illustrate the points.

1. People will take a 30 year fixed and pay extra each month to get the principal paid down quicker.

2. Others will take a bi-weekly mortgage payment, even though they aren't paid that way, as they believe in the magic amortization that comes with the bi-weekly.

3. Some will take a low rate short term mortgage, 10 or 15 years fixed, and then when they need more money will take a fixed rate 2nd mortgage or a Heloc which is a variable rate second. It doesn't matter if the new mortgage is twice the size of the first because the first has a very low interest rate.

4. Last but certainly not least some borrowers opt for the option arm because they have four ways to pay the loan and can choose which way they want each and every month.

Let me begin my analysis of these four examples by stating that nothing is inherently wrong with these examples, as there isn't any rule that says you can't swing as hard as you want. These examples all exhibit poor course management and most come from some perceived mistake that might have been made earlier by the borrower. Continued...